Friday, February 20, 2009

Eastern Europe: Latvia's government collapses amid economic crisis

From MarketWatch:

Latvia's coalition government collapsed Friday, plunging the Baltic country into political turbulence at a time when its economy is mired in a severe crisis and investors are increasingly concerned about the situation in Eastern Europe.

President Valdis Zatlers said he has accepted the resignations of Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis and his administration, according to media reports.

Godmanis said his position had become untenable after his two main coalition partners failed to support him earlier Friday, the BBC reported. The capital Riga was rocked by protests over economic policy in January, and Godmanis subsequently survived a Feb. 3 parliamentary vote of confidence, according to the report.

The government collapse in Latvia comes only weeks after Iceland's government resigned over the devastating crisis that has wrecked the island nation's economy. In Ukraine, the finance minister quit last week over economic policy disagreements with the prime minister...MORE